Ecosurety releases 2019 impact report

Ecosurety has released its most comprehensive impact report to date, detailing the wide-ranging impact made throughout 2019

Since 2017 Ecosurety has released an annual impact report to communicate the impact made on behalf of its members, beyond its core compliance services. The 2019 impact report is the most comprehensive yet, detailing over 39 pages the projects and initiatives that Ecosurety has supported and invested in, to drive a change for good in the UK recycling industry and beyond.

The report comes after one of the most difficult years for producers, with compliance costs spiking to unprecedented highs due to various external factors, including PRN market turmoil due in part to China closing their doors to imported waste.

Despite the difficulties experienced in the UK compliance industry, Ecosurety has steadfastly stuck by its commitment to drive a change for good in the wider industry and beyond. The report details how this has been achieved by supporting and investing in the four key areas of education, collaboration, infrastructure and innovation:

Investing in education

The report details in-depth the wide variety of education projects Ecosurety either initiated or collaborated on in 2019, including the second phase of the pioneering #LeedsByExample on-the-go recycling initiative. It also details the resulting impacts on the cities of Swansea and Edinburgh, thanks to the #InTheLoop campaign that saw the first on-street coffee cup recycling in Wales and the first on-the-go recycling facilities in Edinburgh installed.

Other education projects in the report include an e-waste amnesty during Recycle Week 2019, Every Can Counts public engagement at UK events, a trial of a kerbside battery recycling awareness campaign for households in Bristol and the mentoring of local school children.

Collaboration action

Collaboration projects include responses to the Defra packaging consultations and inputs into influential external reports, support for the UK Plastics Pact, details of public speaking completed by various members of the Ecosurety team.

It also details the launch of the unprecedented £1m Ecosurety Exploration Fund which aims to invest in projects reducing the environmental impact of packaging, batteries and WEEE on the environment through innovation or research.

Supporting innovation

In an effort to encourage the ideas of tomorrow that can make a significant impact, in 2019 Ecosurety support a new tag-and-trace technology called PolyTag that could enable brands to track their packaging though the recycling system, engage directly with consumers and achieve a circular recycling system for their packaging materials.

Other innovation projects include the PolyMet research to remove colour from waste plastic, potentially increasing its value and re-use potential many times over, and the PRN market tracker that enables packaging producers to track daily performance of market prices with full transparency.

Improving infrastructure

A section of the report explores the impact of evidence procurement by Ecosurety, including the investment in new plastic recycling facilities and the support of a major new plant constructed by Viridor.

The impact report also contains an honest re-appraisal of evidence procurement targets set in previous years.

Looking ahead to 2020

Finally, the report concludes with five commitments for 2020 that will underpin the future work and objectives of Ecosurety.

James Piper, CEO, commented “Every year it is with a great deal of pride that we release our annual impact report, not only because it details the activity that makes us stand apart in the compliance industry, but because by reflecting on what we have achieved in the previous twelve months, it drives us to up our game and achieve even more in the next twelve.”

“2019 saw a gathering momentum for positive change in the UK, with a new urgency for environmental action. The compliance industry witnessed a similar drive for reform. Against this backdrop we have grown in size as a scheme throughour impactful activities, which enables us to make an even bigger impact into the future.”

Request your copy now

You can request the new Ecosurety 2019 impact report, and those from previous years, by clicking here.